Puma x Alife – Fear City

In June 1975 officers of the NYPD handed out free survival guides to incoming tourists at the local airports; crime levels were that bad.

Fast forward to 2016, and the team at Alife, based on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side, use this infamous survival guide as a basis for their new collaboration collection with sportswear giant Puma.

Playing with a much darker palette, this new collection (subtitled Fear City) feels a lot more wearable that the previous effort from these two. The all over graphic prints are mostly monochromatic, with much more subtle hits of colour, rather than the super-loud in-your-face neons of yesteryear.

To celebrate the launch of the Fear City collection, Puma and Alife enlisted the help of Canoe Inc and Urban Nerds to host an incredible party in the middle of East London’s Shoreditch, with live performances from the likes of P Money, Flava D, and Ghetts.

Before things got fully underway however, we were invited to sit in on a panel discussion which acted as a prologue to the party, and explored the transatlantic evolution of street style, from LDN to NYC and beyond.

Hosted by brand consultant, and all-round legend of the London streetwear scene, Kish Kash, and featuring panellists such as Alife’s Treis Hill, stylist Ayishat Akanbi, London grime MC P Money, and trainer geek Joel Stoddart, this was a fascinating look into not only the roots of streetwear, but also a glimpse into the future of this scene.